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Council clarifies use of traffic-detection cameras and approves side-scan sonar purchase under port security grant
Summary
Councilmembers asked whether new traffic detection cameras record license plates and discussed a towable side-scan sonar funded by a port security grant; staff said cameras are for traffic detection not ALPR and the sonar is a grant-supported upgrade with a 25% local match
At the Mobile City Council pre-meeting in June, councilmembers asked for clarifications about traffic-detection cameras and a marine side-scan sonar the city is purchasing with a port security grant.
A councilmember asked whether the planned traffic-detection cameras on Dauphin Street would capture license-plate images; staff responded, “Correct” to the question that they are not license-plate cameras and later affirmed, “This is traffic detection.” The council had on the agenda a purchase order to Acadis for traffic detection cameras, sensors and supporting network hardware for Dauphin Street intersection improvements, $493,164.21 (agenda item 08884).
Councilmembers also questioned a purchase described on the agenda as a towable side-scan sonar (listed with Atlas North America). City staff said the equipment is part of a port security grant the city previously approved and that the local match is roughly 25 percent. A staff member (Public Safety) said, “we’re only paying about because of the match, it’s only 25%, about 19,000 of it’s actually coming out of city budget,” and that the overall port security grant was multi-million dollars.
Staff said the sonar will be used in Dog River and for port scanning, search-and-rescue and locating submerged objects. The staff member said officers who deploy the unit are trained: “They are” and “they’re required to have the brands that have to be trained.” Councilmembers asked whether the city would bill for sonar services; staff replied the city would not charge for deployments tied to port security or public-safety responses.
Staff pointed to prior local use of side-scan sonar in a recovery operation and said the technology had helped locate aircraft occupants after a coast guard helicopter incident. The agenda also included other public-safety-related purchases approved on the consent docket, including water-rescue dry suits ($21,945), replacement roll-up door for a convention center ($22,350) and emergency vehicles (ambulances) ($1,122,966).
The council’s pre-meeting record shows the purchase order for the side-scan sonar was introduced on the consent list (agenda item 08885) and the traffic-detection camera purchase was listed as agenda item 08884. Staff said training, deployment protocols and grant-match accounting will be handled through Public Safety and grant-administration processes.
